Heather Riley was unknowingly suffering from a serious heart disease
A “bubbly, outgoing” woman died of a heart attack six years after her younger sister also lost her life to a heart-related condition. Mum-of-three Heather Riley, 36, from Warrington, was unknowingly suffering from ischemic heart disease; a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries resulting in reduced blood flow to the heart.
She died on December 3 last year after collapsing in her home. Her death came as a second tragedy for her family following the loss of her 27-year-old sister Sarah, who died of underlying cardiomyopathy (heart disease) in May 2019.
At her inquest in Liverpool today, Tuesday May 5, coroner Helen Rimmer said Ms Riley had visited a friend’s house on December 2 last year, where she “vomited, felt dizzy, and had a pain in her arm”. She was taken home, where she collapsed at around 10.30pm that night.
Emergency services were called and attempts were made to resuscitate the mum. She was taken to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, where resuscitation efforts continued. However she could not be revived, and she was pronounced dead at 2.41am on December 3.
Post-mortem examinations revealed Ms Riley was suffering from “acute and chronic ischemic heart disease with some thrombosis (clotting) and critical narrowing in the left descending anterior artery”.
Toxicology revealed levels of cocaine in her system. Ms Rimmer said she “died as a result of a heart attack caused by severe narrowing of one of the main arteries supplying blood to her heart.”
She said: “Over time this artery has been significantly narrowed due to the build-up of fatty deposits… leading to a fatal, abnormal heart rhythm. The presence of cocaine in Heather’s system will have contributed to the event because cocaine does place strain on the heart at whatever level, and it increases the heart rate and blood pressure, causing the arteries to narrow and spasm.
“We know that Heather’s were narrow in any event, which then triggers arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and the heart to beat irregularly and ultimately stop.”
The cause of death was determined to be a heart attack caused by coronary artery atherosclerosis (fatty build-up in the arteries) and cocaine use.
A funeral and memorial fund-raiser set up in memory of Ms Riley raised more than £2,100. In a tribute, her mum Carol Fearnley said: “Heather was a very bubbly outgoing woman who loved life and most of all her children.
“She was very popular in the community and a great friend to many, she loved horses and dogs from a young age and enjoyed all outdoor life and lived it to the fullest.”
Speaking in court, she described her daughter as “the life and soul of the party”. She said: “She was certainly a force to be reckoned with. She was fiercely defensive of her family.
“In the crematorium there was 87 seats, and 87 seats were full. There was five window ledges down the sides and they were full. The doors were open.
“We had a horse-drawn carriage for her and all her friends were waiting at the gate. As we moved down they all set off green flares, because green was her colour.”
Her partner Gary Fearnley said: “There was no other Heather, and there never will be. She loved her life and she would just get on with things.”
The coroner made a short narrative verdict of death by natural causes, exacerbated by drug use.
